kimwim:Lost Thought 00: seadoo2006: So, answer me this: Has Best Korea significantly improved their rocket technology from what I can buy at the hobby shop, or are they still dropping ICBMs into the ocean 3 miles from launch?

Last attempt hit the 25 mile mark or so, I think. Enough to brush Japan

Omahawg:make me some tea: seadoo2006: So, answer me this: Has Best Korea significantly improved their rocket technology from what I can buy at the hobby shop, or are they still dropping ICBMs into the ocean 3 miles from launch?

Apparently they did actually launch a multi-staged rocket and achieved orbit just recently. Unless I missed the part about it not being true.

The U.S. also has an anti-ICBM system in place. Hopefully it works well enough. The greater threat is us being pulled into a land war to defend South Korea.

nah, America would never be so dumb to get involved in a land war in asia after vietnam. we learned our lesson! right? RIGHT!?!?!?

Next thing you know, they'll be going in against Sicilians when death is on the line.

Until NK attacks then the ceasefire is still tacitly in place. The rest of the world should shock the hell out of them and pre-emptively attack. That farce of a nation has existed for too long and the oppression of its people is a blight on the face of humanity.

Millennium:Omahawg: make me some tea: seadoo2006: So, answer me this: Has Best Korea significantly improved their rocket technology from what I can buy at the hobby shop, or are they still dropping ICBMs into the ocean 3 miles from launch?

Apparently they did actually launch a multi-staged rocket and achieved orbit just recently. Unless I missed the part about it not being true.

The U.S. also has an anti-ICBM system in place. Hopefully it works well enough. The greater threat is us being pulled into a land war to defend South Korea.

nah, America would never be so dumb to get involved in a land war in asia after vietnam. we learned our lesson! right? RIGHT!?!?!?

Next thing you know, they'll be going in against Sicilians when death is on the line.

scubamage:Great Janitor: I say we just drop one nuclear bomb and end this one real fast.

That would be a very bad move. The fallout would land almost entirely on China, and South Korean. That would be bad, mmkay. We'd be much better having a bunch of drone jockeys level the place.

Okay, instead of drones, bombers under fighter jet escort, to the largest North Korean city, bomb it until it is a memory. Repeat until they surrender or until there is no such thing as a North Korean. Better that then sending our troops into yet another ground war.

Sure, a bunch of Worst Koreans would die, along with a bunch of Americans, but Best Korea must know that they would be obliterated in no time if they pulled that shiat. In the process, China would be flooded with refugees it doesn't want.

If they have an ounce of rationality, this is merely bluster. If not, it will be an ugly war ending with the obliteration of Best Korea in relatively short order.

Make no mistake about the South Koreans. They can be brutal too. See: Vietnam.

Seeing as the demand for electronics from Samsung and LG is not declining, and China's middle class continues to grow, having a new source of cheap manufacturing in the area has lots of economic benefits. North Korea's location is perfect, being located midway between two of the world's fastest growing and most economically powerful cities.

Great Janitor:scubamage: Great Janitor: I say we just drop one nuclear bomb and end this one real fast.

That would be a very bad move. The fallout would land almost entirely on China, and South Korean. That would be bad, mmkay. We'd be much better having a bunch of drone jockeys level the place.

Okay, instead of drones, bombers under fighter jet escort, to the largest North Korean city, bomb it until it is a memory. Repeat until they surrender or until there is no such thing as a North Korean. Better that then sending our troops into yet another ground war.

I'm pretty sure that China will supply most of the ground forces in such an event. They don't get to use their military that often, and I think they'd love the extra respect they'd get in the international community. Would all be done under the guise of a UN Peacekeeping force, of course.

farkingismybusiness:cptjeff: plumbicon: Is it time for some landscaping around the "Dear Comrade's" palace?

Maybe like a glass parking lot?

Seriously, though, we know where their good stuff is, and a few JDAMs would probably do the trick.The worst part is that the citizens who worship this ninny are the ones who'll suffer.

The problem is that the Best Koreans can lob a nuke or two at Seoul before our missiles get there.

[i.imgur.com image 500x500]Doubt it.

I'd have a nuclear armed submarine or 3 hanging out in the Sea of Japan for this contingency. Sending an ICBM halfway around the world is a waste of time, and would allow leadership to escape to protective bunkers, assuming they hadn't done so already.

My sole concern would be the size of the NK standing army. It's currently at 1.1 million, with well over 5 million more reservists (automatic conscription at age 17 for 5 years for all males, and many females).

I have no idea what state their military is in though technology wise, though I can imagine China has probably kept them pretty well up to date.

Seriously, if Un had his troops crossed the border tomorrow, or even in the next few months, what part of the sequester would effect our response? Most of our combat troops at this point are actually combat veterans, and I doubt they're going to forget how to fight in the next few months, even if all they did was lay around at home and drink beer (which, I promise you, they aren't doing). Do you think they wouldn't bump up military funding if we had to go balls deep in Korea? Would a war be good? Of course not. I'm just saying, we have the resources to handle it. Only in your little mind are all our troops camped out in Israel, defending those evil zionists you hate so much.

Great Janitor:Okay, instead of drones, bombers under fighter jet escort, to the largest North Korean city, bomb it until it is a memory. Repeat until they surrender or until there is no such thing as a North Korean. Better that then sending our troops into yet another ground war.

So, a war crime, then?

Because it's pretty commonly accepted that carpet-bombing civilian areas went out of vogue at the end of World War II, and was a pretty ineffective and dick move in Vietnam.

Testiclaw:Prickly Pete: I hope we see a unified Korea in our lifetimes.

The logistics are an absolute nightmare, in every sense of the word, but I would love to see North Koreans free and able to experience the world and all it has to offer.

The biggest logistical nightmare I can see would be the likelihood of mass suicides when the Great Successor dies. The guy rules by personality cult, like his predecessors, and if even 0.1% of the populace decides to follow him into the grave, that's almost 25,000 people.

This is a pity. It is also a pity that there exist people without whom the world would genuinely be a better place, but the speed with which Kim Jong-Un has become one may well break some records.